Part of the National Week series at the College of Europe, Go East! (2-7 February) embodied a fruitful cooperation between the students from Romania, Moldova, Bulgaria, Georgia, Armenia and Belarus. We made a great team, committed to bringing the best academic and cultural events to the Bruges campus of the College.
Go East! kicked off with an exhibition of 220 color photographs, kindly provided by Tsjernobylkinderen - Hoop voor de Toekomst, a Belgian charity organizing vacations in West Flanders for children from the Belarus regions of Mogilev and Gomel, who suffered in the aftermath of the Chernobyl disaster. The exhibition was on display from Monday to Saturday in the foyer of Dijver.
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Projections of major tourist attractions in the six countries continued the programme on Monday during dinner at the Garenmarkt Restaurant.
In cooperation with Europe Outside the Box Debate Club, an open forum debate was held on Tuesday evening on the topic: 'Should we regret the turn away from socialism?' With a considerable turnout, the discussion centered around defining the type of socialism experienced in the former Soviet Union, and whether any elements of that system are desirable today.
The national lunch was served on Thursday and attracted a record number of 350 persons at the Garenmarkt Restaurant. It featured the Georgian appetizer Nigvziani Badrijani, Armenian bread Lavash, Romanian and Moldovan main dish Mamaliga cu Ciulama, Belarus main dish Draniki, Bulgarian salad Shopska, and Moldovan desert Cusma lui Guguta. The appetizer and the desert have been prepared by the students. All visitors received a traditional Bulgarian, Romanian and Moldovan Martenitsa or Martisor - a broche worn throughout the month of March, symbolizing the revival of nature after winter.
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The programme continued on Thursday night with a party at student bar Il Bunker; folk, pop and rock music from the six countries made the theme of the event, with traditional dances performed by the students.
The main academic event of the week was the panel discussion on the topic: 'An Update on the Geopolitics of Eastern Europe and the Caucasus: Regional Integration and Spheres of Influence', held on Friday in Verversdijk. It attracted one of the largest external audience at a student-organized event thanks to the participants of the Host Family project. The distinguished speakers were: Mr. Paul IVAN (European Policy Centre), Mr. Nicu POPESCU (European Union Institute for Security Studies), Mr. Dmitry YARMOLYUK (Embassy of Belarus to Belgium), Mr. Arman ISRAELIAN (Mission of Armenia to the European Union), Ms. Teona GIUASHVILI (Embassy of Georgia to Belgium and Luxembourg), and Mr. Dimitar DERMENDZHIEV (European Endowment for Democracy). A detailed report of the discussion will be made available separately.
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On Saturday, Go East! featured a recital of Armenian folk music, performed by Araks band, and made possible thanks to the Armenian Community in Belgium. The concert took place at Joseph Ryelandtzaal through a cooperation with Bruges City Hall.
The week ended with two movie screenings: Georgian 'In Bloom' (2013) and Romanian 'Beyond the Hills' (2012), both multi-award winning productions, revealing the most recent trends in European art cinema.
National costumes, home decorations and accessories were displayed throughout the week in the canteen. Tourism promotion materials were also made available at a daily info desk.
Go East! was possible thanks to a myriad of amazing people, and we could not be more grateful for their contribution to our week's success:
Our colleagues and friends Anna IOVCHU, Jonny PETERS, Petros AIKATERINIS, Ayla KARAKAYA, Antigoni CHATZIMICHALI, Gauthier VANDELEENE, Ueli STAEGER, Nina BRKULJAN;
Mr. Redgy WILLEM and the staff at Garenmarkt Restaurant;
Ms. Olivia TAVEIRNE and Ms. Julie ORTEGAT-TRAEN from the Student Affairs Office;
Europe Outside the Box Debate Club;
Il Bunker and the staff behind the bar;
Mr. Luc SABBE and the Host Family Project;
Armenian Community in Belgium;
Araks band: Tigran Ter STEPANIAN, Vardan HOVANISSIAN, Anoush TERTERIAN;
Bruges City Hall;
Tsjernobylkinderen - Hoop voor de Toekomst;
Embassies of Romania, Moldova, Bulgaria, Georgia, Armenia and Belarus to Belgium;
Mr. Filip van den BROELE, Honorary Consul of Belgium to Belarus;
Moldovan Bureau for Diaspora Relations;
Romanian Cultural Institute, Bruxelles;
Verdriet van Belgie
For any further details on our National Week, please contact Go East! managers Andrei CONSTANTIN or Ana GURAU.